AIADMK members stage walk out alleging favouritism

TIRUCHI:

AIADMK councillors staged a walkout from the Corporation Council meeting on Thursday, alleging discrimination in allocation of funds to different wards in the city

Participating in the discussion on budget proposals, which was tabled in the Council a few days ago, AIADMK member Ambikapathy, representing ward 65, said that several wards had been ignored under the Smart City Mission. The benefits of the smart city fund had been enjoyed by the people in a few wards. The officials reasoned that the funds could not be used for the wards that had not been brought under the ambit of the Smart City Mission. But this has affected the newly added areas.

When he said that favouritism was being shown to the wards in Tiruchi (West) Assembly constituency, represented by Municipal Administration Minister K.N.Nehru, the DMK councillors strongly opposed his allegation. M. Anbazhagan, Mayor, who presided over the meeting, said it was unbecoming of him to level allegations without facts and figures. Other DMK members too urged him to come out with facts before levelling accusations. The AIADMK members, K. Ambikapathy, C. Aravindan and Anushuya Ravishankar, subsequently staged a walk out.

Vehemently opposing the comments of the AIADMK members, Mr. Anbazhagan said that there was absolutely no truth in the allegation. Minister for Municipal Administration K.N. Nehru had made it clear that all 65 wards, irrespective of the party affiliation, should be treated equally. Projects and funds had been allotted in the budget accordingly. The allocation to “Amma Unavagams”, which was named after former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, had been increased to Rs.3 crore from Rs.2.70 crore. It was a testimony to the fact that the DMK was maintaining political decency in allocation of funds to the wards equally.

Several councillors including the Congress, Communist Party of India and the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi welcomed the budget proposals and thanked Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and Mr. Nehru for allotting funds to the construction of a new bus terminus at Panchapur. A few councillors, some belonging to the DMK, said that all wards should be treated equally. They also demanded a concerted action to expedite the underground drainage works.

K. Suresh of the CPI, representing ward 23, said that the people of the city had been demanding for a new bus terminus for more than 20 years. It had become a reality with allocation of funds for it.

V. Jawahar (Congress), representing ward 2, said that the proposal to start LKG/UKG classes in the Corporation school was a good move. English medium of instruction should be introduced in the schools being run by the Corporation so as to enable the poor students to study in English medium from the beginning of their study..